Jess Pecoraro didn't know what a stylist was until she walked into the Cosmopolitan fashion cupboard. By 23, she had worked her way through some of Australia's biggest magazines. Then she walked away from her dream job with no clients, no title and no safety net, betting she could build something bigger on her own. Today she's one of Sydney's most in-demand celebrity stylists and fashion brand consultants. Her work spans Fashion Week runways, GQ Men of the Year, NGV x Cartier Gala,  luxury trunk shows, brand consulting and private clients on retainer.

In this episode, Jess breaks down the many hats a stylist wears beyond the clothes themselves. On a runway she's across the fittings, castings, hair and makeup briefs, music and lighting. Brands bring her in before a collection is even designed ("700 tops for one pair of pants"), and she tells her favourite clients to "just tell me the budget." She's honest about cash flow, the Covid-era business she launched and closed, learning to be on camera, and why she kept her second pregnancy quiet to protect her client base. It's a rare, candid look at building a service business in a small market, and what "effortless" style really takes behind the scenes.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: From Cosmo Intern to Stylist

04:11 — Quitting at 23 to Go Freelance0

9:04 — The Money Side Nobody Teaches

11:34 — A Covid Business & Camera Fear

16:16 — How Stylists Really Get Paid

19:10 — Why Brands Need a Stylist

23:13 — Big Projects & Private Clients

28:18 — Inside Fashion Week & GQ

39:09 — Motherhood Without Losing Clients

44:58 — The Effort Behind "Effortless"

48:49 — Can a Styling Business Scale?

54:08 — Fave Aussie Brands + Where to Find Jess

Connect with our Guest:

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This episode includes references to third-party fashion houses, publications, events and brands discussed for educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

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If you're a founder, business owner, or the person on the marketing team who keeps getting told "we need more founder videos" , this episode is the actual framework, not just the advice why & how to do it.

In this Petit, Arielle breaks down exactly how she produces founder-led and expert-led video content for her own retainer clients, including real case studies from Sheila the Label and McMullen & Co. She covers two filming methods (the interview approach and the "chat-to-camera" method), why founder-led content is becoming the biggest competitive edge a small business has against AI-generated content and fast-fashion-style brand positioning, and closes with 15 specific content prompts you can use immediately free download linked below.

In this episode, you'll learn:

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: Why Founder Videos Matter Now

03:36 — The Market Shift: Why Brands Like Zara Are Repositioning

05:18 — The Emotional Reality of Showing Up on Camera

09:40 — Method One: The Interview Approach

09:51 — Case Study: Alice McMullen — One Sitting Becomes 5 Videos

14:44 — Case Study Two: Claire & Sheila the Label

18:38 — Method Two: Chat-to-Camera ("Yapping")

20:07 — The Real Secret: Answer, Don't Announce

22:37 — The 15 Prompts, Part 1: Curiosity, Opinions & What You See Differently

27:16 — The 15 Prompts, Part 2: Credentials, Principles & the Future You're Building

31:59 — Distribution: Post Everywhere, Test & Commit to One a Week

32:53 — Recap & Call to Action

Get the Free Founder Video Prompt PDF here: https://bit.ly/4jfri4E

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Most photographers shooting fashion campaigns today work in digital, instant previews, instant safety net. Brydie Mack, known to her audience as Wolf Cub, doesn't. She shoots everything on film: three to four rolls per look, five different cameras on set as backup, and a vague idea of what she's actually got until the lab sends it back.

In this episode, Brydie breaks down exactly what it takes to specialize in film in an industry that's mostly moved on from it, the real cost and risk of every shoot, why brands are chasing the medium-format, hand-printed look right now, the airport scanner mistake that can ruin a week of work, and her honest take on why AI is about to make "handmade" the new luxury. She also opens up about stepping back from photography as her next chapter, and gives us the first real look at Lens, the film photography course she's building to pass on everything she knows.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — About Brydie and the Wolf Club Origin

04:47 — On-set Politics

08:03 — The Cost & Risk of Film Photography

09:11 — Photography Heroes

13:52 — Anatomy of a shoot

15:49 — Camera Recommendations for beginners

18:56 — Film Stocks and Flying with Film

22:43 — Managing Shoot Days

24:33 — Dream Clients & US Visa Problems

29:08 — Life Outside Work

34:16 — Boundaries on travelling for work

35:58 — A Photographer’s Dream Model

39:21 — Pitching Jobs

40:20 — Photography Inspiration

44:59 — Shooting Nudes

52:53 — AI in Photo & Film Industry

59:34 — Szilvesztre Mako

1:00:29 — Film Lab Recommendations

1:03:36 — Advice for aspiring film photographers

1:04:15 — Connect with Brydie

Join the Waitlist for Lens:

Brydie's upcoming Film Photography Course 

Connect with our Guest:

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.

See you at the next one!

This episode references other photographers and their work for educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

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"It's an object of obsession about one woman... you genuinely get an intimacy that you cannot find anywhere else." — Grace O'Neill & Paulina Paige

Grace O'Neill and Paulina Paige have built magazines and campaigns for some of the biggest names in fashion media. But this time, they threw out every rule they knew and started from zero with no guardrails, no existing audience, no safety net. The result is Persona: a biannual, single-subject magazine that reads more like a coffee table book than a glossy, with its debut issue built entirely around Bella Freud.

In this exclusive interview, Grace and Paulina walk through exactly how Persona came together, the cold email that convinced Bella Freud to say yes, the unpublished 90s photo archive they talked a photographer into handing over, getting the rights to a Lucian Freud portrait, and the real numbers behind launching a $75 magazine with zero followers. It's a rare, honest look at what it actually takes to build a print product from scratch in 2026 - the creative risk-taking, the budget conversations, and the trust it takes to hand a stylist "a little kernel of an idea" and let them run the thing.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: Grace & Paulina The Lead-Up to Persona

05:27 — From Massive Infrastructure to Doing It All Themselves

07:41 — What They Knew Going In

14:26 — What If a Magazine Had No Rules?

16:47 — Deciding on Bella Freud

18:52 — The Cold Email That Got Bella Freud on Board

22:08 — The Moment They Knew It Was Really Happening

22:57 — Building the Book Around What They Had

31:35 — Is It Really an Australian Magazine?

34:16 — Talking Budgets: Landing Dior & Reframing Beauty With Mecca

42:14 — What It Actually Takes to Print

44:18 — Production vs. Printing

48:23 — The Launch Gamble

53:32 — How Much Room Does This Take Up in Your Life?

58:24 — Partnership

1:00:29 — Where the Creative Stimulus Comes From

1:04:00 — Second Issue?

1:08:32 — Where to Find Them

1:10:15 — Persona Launch Party

Take a look at Persona:

Connect with our Guests:

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. See you at the next one!

This episode includes references to third-party archival imagery and licensed material (including works connected to the Lucian Freud estate) discussed for educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"My parents owned a five star luxury hotel that they built when I was ten... it formed me in a way that I cannot even comprehend." — Arielle Thomas

For over 140 episodes, Arielle's been the one asking the questions. This week, she turned the mic on herself. With so many new listeners joining after the Merit episode went viral, it felt like time to rewind the tape, who she actually is, how Process the Podcast came to exist, and where her seven-figure production company, Cinema Thom, stands today.

From growing up behind the scenes of her parents' five-star hotel, to a teenage sales job at Scanlan Theodore, to acting school in New York, to directing a Kmart TikTok vertical that helped drive enormous value for shareholders. 

This is the full, unfiltered walk through everything that built the person behind Process. It's personal, it's honest, and it's the episode to send anyone who's ever asked, "wait, how did you get into this?"

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Process the Podcast and Arielle's Origin Story
01:45 — Growing Up in Hotels: The Lyall
03:42 — Learning the Value of a Dollar
05:20 — Moving to New York for Acting School
06:00 — Coming Home & Arielle's Acting Career
08:17 — Behind the Camera with Meat and Potatoes
10:54 — Working with Kmart
14:09 — The TikTok Era
17:45 — Global Expansion: Anko Philippines
19:43 — How Process the Podcast Came to Be
21:21 — Process Today
27:52 — Cinema Thom Today
28:30 — What's Next?

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

New here? We're now on YouTube with a companion panel alongside the video, worth a watch if you're a visual person! Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.

See you at the next one!

This episode references past projects (Meat and Potatoes, Deadline Gallipoli) discussed for personal/educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"You can't afford to be an arsehole if you're famous; people talk about it too much." - Joh Bailey

Forty-one years ago, Joh Bailey opened a single Double Bay salon with one goal: to be number one. Today, that same "no bullshit" philosophy has taken him from doing Princess Diana's hair on royal visits to building his own haircare line from scratch; tested, adjusted, and re-tested until it was right.

In this episode, Joh gets refreshingly honest about what it actually takes to survive four decades in an industry built on trends: the phone call from Buckingham Palace that changed everything, what working with clients like Kim Kardashian taught her about fame and behaviour, surviving the GFC when she and her business partner Marilyn had "no idea what to do" with the money coming in, and why she still tests every product on himself before it ever reaches a client. It's part masterclass, part memoir, and a genuinely funny, unfiltered look at what it takes to build something that lasts.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: 41 Years & the Marilyn Partnership

03:05 — The Non-Verbal Language of hair

06:45 — The accidental business partner

09:01 — Breaking the judgement intimidation in salons

11:08 — Anatomy of a world class blow-dry

15:41 — Doing Princess Diana's Hair

21:53 — 40 Years of Ups & Downs

26:47 — Celebrity Clients

28:25 — Building the Haircare Line

33:20 — The harsh reality on how to have good hair

35:02 —Business Advice for Hard Times

29:23 — Going Global?

40:02 — Giving Back & Handwritten Notes 

42:25 — Can Damaged Hair Be Repaired?

46:05 — Work Ethic

47:32— What's Next?

54:01 — Connect with Joh 

Connect with our Guest:

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. See you at the next one!

This episode includes discussion of third-party public figures and historical events for educational commentary. Any imagery referencing Princess Diana or other celebrities is press/archival material; all rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

"My parents owned a five star luxury hotel that they built when I was ten... it formed me in a way that I cannot even comprehend." — Arielle Thomas

For over 140 episodes, Arielle's been the one asking the questions. This week, she turned the mic on herself. With so many new listeners joining after the Merit episode went viral, it felt like time to rewind the tape, who she actually is, how Process the Podcast came to exist, and where her seven-figure production company, Cinema Thom, stands today.

From growing up behind the scenes of her parents' five-star hotel, to a teenage sales job at Scanlan Theodore, to acting school in New York, to directing a Kmart TikTok vertical that helped drive enormous value for shareholders. 

This is the full, unfiltered walk through everything that built the person behind Process. It's personal, it's honest, and it's the episode to send anyone who's ever asked, "wait, how did you get into this?"

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Process the Podcast and Arielle's Origin Story

01:15 — Growing Up in Hotels: The Lyall

03:53 — Learning the Value of a Dollar

05:32 — Moving to New York for Acting School

06:12 — Coming Home & Arielle's Acting Career

08:05 — Behind the Camera With Meat and Potatoes

12:00 — Working with Kmart

16:13 — The TikTok Era

20:30 — Global Expansion: Anko Philippines

20:57 — How Process the Podcast Came to Be

24:00 — Process Today

30:15 — Cinema Thom Today

33:00 — What's Next?

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

• Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram, @arielle.thomas

• Us, on Instagram, @processthepodcast

• Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast

  
  

New here? We're now on YouTube with a companion panel alongside the video, worth a watch if you're a visual person! Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday.

See you at the next one!

This episode references past projects (Meat and Potatoes, Deadline Gallipoli) discussed for personal/educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

"It's an object of obsession about one woman... you genuinely get an intimacy that you cannot find anywhere else." — Grace O'Neill & Paulina Paige

Grace O'Neill and Paulina Paige have built magazines and campaigns for some of the biggest names in fashion media. But this time, they threw out every rule they knew and started from zero with no guardrails, no existing audience, no safety net. The result is Persona: a biannual, single-subject magazine that reads more like a coffee table book than a glossy, with its debut issue built entirely around Bella Freud.

In this exclusive interview, Grace and Paulina walk through exactly how Persona came together, the cold email that convinced Bella Freud to say yes, the unpublished 90s photo archive they talked a photographer into handing over, getting the rights to a Lucian Freud portrait, and the real numbers behind launching a $75 magazine with zero followers. It's a rare, honest look at what it actually takes to build a print product from scratch in 2026 - the creative risk-taking, the budget conversations, and the trust it takes to hand a stylist "a little kernel of an idea" and let them run the thing.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: Grace & Paulina The Lead-Up to Persona

05:27 — From Massive Infrastructure to Doing It All Themselves

07:41 — What They Knew Going In

14:26 — What If a Magazine Had No Rules?

16:47 — Deciding on Bella Freud

18:52 — The Cold Email That Got Bella Freud on Board

22:08 — The Moment They Knew It Was Really Happening

22:57 — Building the Book Around What They Had

31:35 — Is It Really an Australian Magazine?

34:16 — Talking Budgets: Landing Dior & Reframing Beauty With Mecca

42:14 — What It Actually Takes to Print

44:18 — Production vs. Printing

48:23 — The Launch Gamble

53:32 — How Much Room Does This Take Up in Your Life?

58:24 — Partnership

1:00:29 — Where the Creative Stimulus Comes From

1:04:00 — Second Issue?

1:08:32 — Where to Find Them

1:10:15 — Persona Launch Party

Take a look at Persona:

• Persona Magazine: www.persona-magazine.com 

• Instagram @thepersonamagazine

Connect with our Guests:

• Grace O'Neill on Instagram: @grceoneill

• Paulina Ortega on Instagram: @paulinapaige

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

• Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram, @arielle.thomas

• Us, on Instagram, @processthepodcast

• Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. See you at the next one!

This episode includes references to third-party archival imagery and licensed material (including works connected to the Lucian Freud estate) discussed for educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

"The beauty of great satire is you blur the line of whether or not something is true or not true."- Claudia Bursill

Before she was Miss Double Bay, Claudia Bursill was just a uni student with a Woolworths review that spiralled into a national news story. Today, that same anonymous meme account is her literal resume; it's how she landed a job at the Betoota Advocate, and now leads talent and business development at its sister agency, Leverage.

In this episode, Claudia breaks down the real mechanics behind building a satire brand: why great comedy always "punches up," never down, how she decided to reveal her identity after years behind the account, the brand deals she's turned into some of her most-shared content, and why she thinks a running joke can build more trust than a perfectly polished post ever could.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro: Claudia Bursill A.K.A Miss Double Bay

01:30 — The 'Miss Double Bay' Persona & Origin Story

02:33 — Origin Story: The Woolworths Avocado Review

06:25 — The Identity Reveal

10:57 — Miss Double Bay (MDB) & Job Opportunities

13:01 — Why Authenticity Beats the Traditional Influencer Brief 14:59 — From Meme Account to Writer to Business Development

16:12 — The Future of the Creator Economy

17:23 — A Day in the Life at Leverage

20:16 — What Is Satire, Really?

20:54 — The Golden Rule: Always Punch Up

24:41 — Turning a Moment Into Content

30:12 — Climbing & Fighting the Cringe Mountain

33:41 — Riding a Trend the Right Way

40:32 — Your Relationship With Your Phone

46:12 — PNLs in Media

48:18 — Trivia Night!

52:17 — Closing & Where to Find Her

TRIVIA NIGHT TICKETS! 

• Get it here

Connect with our Guest:

• Miss Double Bay on Instagram: @missdoublebay

• Claudia Bursill on Instagram: @claudiabursill

• The Betoota Advocate: @betootaadvocate

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

• Your host, Arielle Thomas on Instagram, ⁠@arielle.thomas⁠

• Us, on Instagram, ⁠@processthepodcast

• Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. See you at the next one!

This episode includes third-party references (news coverage, satire case studies) used for educational commentary. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Aila Morin is the founding Chief Marketing Officer of Merit Beauty, one of the fastest-growing brands in the beauty industry. On this episode of Process, host Arielle Thomas sits down with Aila for a rare, in-depth conversation about brand building, marketing strategy, and product development, from Merit's earliest days as an anonymous Instagram account to its most recent Clean Volume mascara launch.

Aila walks through how Merit built a loyal community before the brand even had a name, why the company skipped paid advertising entirely for its first four months, and how a single UX fix increased sales by more than 100%. She also gets candid about product failures, the emotional weight of building something people trust, and why Merit has no interest in using AI in its creative process.

This conversation covers founder transparency, marketing strategy, brand building, product development, and the beauty industry from the inside, a masterclass for anyone building a brand, working in marketing, or curious how one of beauty's most consistent companies actually operates day to day.

INSIDE THE EPISODE:

00:00 — Intro

00:38 — How Merit Came to Be

03:15 — Finding the White Space in Beauty

05:10 — Building a Brand That Doesn't Need the Product

07:17 — Learning to Sell from the Shop Floor

09:46 — The Secret Instagram Account That Became Merit

11:33 — Skipping Paid Ads for Community as a Focus Group

13:12 — Why Great Brands Aren't Built on Virality

16:59 — Reinventing the Foundation Stick

22:13 — Data Over Market Reports: Building Clean Volume

26:11 — The Kaizen Approach to Product Development

29:24 — Story First: How a Launch Actually Gets Built

34:15 — Why Merit Never Starts With the Grid

35:20 — Casting With a Story: Whitney Leavitt & Karen Pittman

38:10 — Self-Doubt Behind the Confidence

40:28 — Owning Polarizing Reviews

42:17 — What Hasn't Worked

44:30 — The Unglamorous Reality of Running Merit

46:22 — Building a Brand That Lasts 100 Years

49:00 — Clean Volume's "See to Believe" Sampling Strategy

50:37 — The Future of Social & Why No AI Creative

52:41 — Arielle's Personal Encounter With Merit

55:36 — Beauty: Shame vs. Belonging

Connect with our Guest:

• Aila Morin on Instagram: @ailamorin

• Merit Beauty on Instagram: @merit

• Website: meritbeauty.com

Enjoyed this Episode?

Join our Community!

• Your host, Arielle Thomas, on Instagram,⁠@arielle.thomas⁠:

• Us, on Instagram,⁠ @processthepodcast

•Whatsapp Community @processthepodcast

Follow us to get notified every time a new episode drops every Tuesday. See you at the next one!

This episode includes third-party audio used for educational commentary and reference. All rights and ownership belong to their respective copyright holders. This content is utilized under Fair Use principles and does not imply endorsement or affiliation with Process The Podcast. For takedowns or copyright inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices